Small Step-back Cabinet

As usual I kept very busy this week painting new things for the booth I rent at the Peddler's Market in Greenville.  Last week a couple came from Saginaw and bought every piece of furniture I had in the store. It was wonderful to think that I made money that day but more thrilling was the fact that someone really gets what I do.  It was a great day but I really had to kick it into high gear to get some things done to fill up my space at the store. 

I began with plans for several pieces and this is the first one that I started on.  I bought a really cool cabinet with 3 drawers.  It appears to have 9 drawers but really only has 3.  It had a lot of charm and I knew that it would be really great painted but still needed something more to interesting.  I had a supply of small tables and decided to attach the cabinet to one of them giving it the appearance of a small step back. 

I applied a coat of bonding primer to the entire piece and then painted it with a gloss black.  After the cabinet dried I stenciled the numbers on to each of the 9 faux drawers to give it an apothecary look.   It is a nice light weight piece that would be great to store anything.  What a great start to the week and there is more to come!

Dress #1

My son got married last week what a wonderful day it was. Along with weddings comes the dreaded question "What do I wear".  Not a thing in my closet would work and I believe me I made sure of that.  I started looking months in advance coming up with nothing.  I have to wear a longer length because my legs are not my strong point, I guess at 54 a girl has to do what she can with what she has, the "its all smoke and mirrors" theory applies here.  I really wanted something pretty with ruffles and flowers like I see all over the net but in my size and covering my knees.  So I thought dare I take the liberty to employ my repurposing talents and create a dress to wear.  My heart cried YES YES if you dream it you can do it........okay that was corny but really anyone who is creative knows that when they most assuredly should be sleeping they become like little elves that make cookies and shoes in the middle of the night while everyone else is sleeping and do their best designing and planning.

I got out my basket of "what if" clothes that I have to use in reconstruction.  It was full of wonderful things I never wear but couldn't get rid of. I ended up making 3 dresses only because when I got started I couldn't stop and also when finished I could try them on as if I were in a department store and make a decision based the look and fit of several dresses.  Today I am featuring the first in the line up. I will post the other 2 and then ask you which one you would have picked and later reveal which one made to the top.  The one I ended up wearing fit like a glove and made me feel like a princess. I don't get out much so that may be a stretch but you girls know when your clothing fits well and you love the style it makes you feel good.

Here is what I started with for dress #1, there was a black dress made out of crinkle knit material, a lace tank top, and a piece of purple knit material I bought somewhere for 50 cents.

The lace tank top was really nice I wore several times but it had issues.  The lace tank kept sliding up leaving too much of the off white tank exposed. I was constantly pulling in down and adjusting it.  Great look bad fit.
The black dress was wonderful but I just never wore it, I just don't get out enough.  And the purple knit I bought because it was just a great color and eye appeal is everything.

First I tried on the tank and while looking in the mirror I placed a staight pin where I wanted to cut off the bottom of the tank to make the dress and cut it to length.  Then I took some of the black lace that I cut off from the tank and made 2 lengths(one wider than the other) to ruffle. I placed one on top of the other and made a running stitch up the middle that I pulled to make it ruffle and pinned it to the front of the left over tank.  I stitched it first by hand then secured it with machine stitiching.  Next I took the purple knit and made my waistband. I pretty much just took the material and put it around my middle to estimate the size of it.  I attached that to the top of the tank with my serger.  The black dress I cut off making it as long as possible cutting it off as close to the top of the dress as possible  to aquire a tea length for the skirt.  I attached the skirt to the waistband and moved on to the embellishments.  I sat at night after work in front ot the tv just playing with roses and more lace.  I really took my time coming up with what I believe makes the dress a finished work of art.  I took the purple knit and made 2 roses by cutting a rectangle about 3" wide and 15" long. I used the twist and roll method of making the rose securing it with hand stitches as I went along.  I hand stitched the roses to the front of the dress that brought my project to completion. I must tell you I had all 3 dresses going at once.  I would work on one then put it down and work on one of the other dresses. I think that sometimes you have to walk away from what you are working until the right inspiration comes along so you can finish. I am very happy with the out come of this dress and I think it is because I took the time to just relax and create.  I wasn't afraid to try something than rip it out and start over till I got it right.

I also took some the left over black lace and made a bow that I tacked on the back of the dress by hand.

I had a wonderful little black sweater cardi that had a lace ruffle I used to top off the dress.  The wedding was outdoors on the lake and I knew that I would need a topper until I hit the dance floor or had a hot flash which ever would come first. Anyway, here is contestant #1. Lace, ruffles, and roses all my favorites and the color purple.........can't get enough!

Bloom!

Remember the skirt I made a while back when I promised to use the left overs to make a purse. I had the bottom of the skirt and all the rest of the ties left so I sat down and just started to let my imagination go. I wanted more lace on the denim to give the tie flowers a better back round so they would show up. I just happen to find one at the Salvation Army Thrift store for .49 right in my price range! So I cut the denim to size making this bag more of a tote size nice and big to haul anything a girl would need (it's about 15" by 15"!). Next I placed the lace onto the front side and stitched it down. Then while watching the Walton's every night I proceeded to make roses out of the the left over tie pieces. I started with the middle securing it and then kept rolling the tie and twisting it around the forming circle stitching it as I went along. Before long I had a whole garden of flowers and was ready to sew the bag together.



I made 2 handles out of the scraps that I pieced together for one side and used some silky tie looking fabric for the underside from my stash. I also pieced the top band out of tie scraps too. I hand stitched the layers of lace, fringe and trim around the bottom of the top band to embellish it as much as I could, more is always better always! I had a sweet little collage type pin that I placed in the center to give it just a little more pizazz along with 2 vintage buttons.

The purse is fully lined with 2 inside pockets for cells phones and sunglasses, it also has a magnetic closure. Just love magnetic closures they are the best. After the construction was completed I hot glued the roses to the front of the purse and there you have it all finished! I like it so much I have it hanging up in my bedroom to just look at for a while lace and roses are so calming!

Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think! Thanks for stopping by. Next time around I will have 3 dresses I made refashioning some clothes I never wear.  Just a hint there will be lots of ruffles, lace, and flowers!

All Tied Up!

I was supposed to go to a festival today but we had a thunder storm and I had to stay home. So what better to do than get at one of those projects that have been sitting around for oh... a year or so!  So many to choose  from, a hard decision to make.  Went into my closet and saw a bag of neckties that I bought  at a resale shop a long time ago and thought there it is! This is the project that will make me forget about  aebleskivers. I looked on the rack and found the perfect candidate to complete my project a long blue jean skirt I never wear.

After I fearlessly cut the bottom off from the skirt and pinned on one neck tie that determined the length I wanted it to be.  Then I cut all the ties to the same length and started pinning the sides together so I could stitch them into one skirt piece.  I just overlapped them and top stitched them in black thread until I had the skirt completed. 

After I got the ties pinned to the bottom of the jean skirt I stitched it onto skirt and serged the seam. Over all I like the outcome, the ties I used were definitely vintage and  really fun.  I may add some trim to the skirt in a day or two and if I do I will definitely update this post.  I can't believe I took a picture of the backside of the skirt with me in it I don't usually show my backside -oh well I wanted you to be able to see the neat combination of old neck ties so it was worth it.




I love the picture above of the inside of the skirt, the ties are so cool I could make a project just using the labels.  I still  have the bottom of the jean skirt left and the remainder of the ties I used and I am thinking they would make a cool tote bag and hopefully they won't sit in my closet for another year waiting for a rainy day!
I love anything blue jean, especially skirts so be sure and stop by again to see if I have any new creations. Winter is coming and I know in Michigan I will probably be stuck indoors for most of it and looking for something to do.